Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Dr Seuss's birthday is coming up.
Last year I declared it a holiday at our house. Who doesn't like an extra holiday? And the fact that it revolves around the crazy fun that is Dr Seuss makes it even better. All those fun books to pull from, how could it not be fun?
So I give you last year's Dr Seuss party.
In Seuss Style of course.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

I'm thrilled to have hit a few double digit runs recently, but fear that with the way my ITBand reacted, they may have to be shelved until after baby.

There was a lovely 8 miler in the elements.
(kills me that 8=long now, when it used to be a midweek mid-distance run)
Rain mixed with snow, that lovely Eagle Mountain "breeze" (read gale force winds), topped off with a little hail for Mother Nature's finale as I ended the run. Thankfully the hail didn't hit till I was turning into the neighborhood. Running in hail hurts in case you were wondering. It was my first time doing it, and hopefully my last!
But hey, I did manage to find a couple of dry spots when I got home!

This was the only dry spot on my jacket on the outside (I was actually able to wring it out it was so wet).

And then on my third layer, the pink shirt, I managed to stay dry on my right side. Nice.

The real winner was the knot that was previously known as a ponytail of my stick straight hair. That was a joy to fix. Note to self: when running in the elements, go with a braid.

There was a 10 miler two weeks after that, and 11.5 two weeks after that. Thankfully both in much better weather. Winter this year has been so nice and mild! Those runs made me happy. My left leg not so much, but mentally I needed them. With the hope of a half marathon on the horizon, I needed to know that pregnancy wasn't going to be an issue when mixed with long runs. The catch now will be to see if the schedule cooperates with my plans. With two rounds of academic team competition in March, odds are that at least one of my hopeful halfs is going to be quashed by the need to be a good support to my kids. We'll see.

Monday, February 20, 2012

The most prominent is the countdown till this quarter of school for Aaron is over. (4 1/2wks)

And while we haven't quite really started paying much attention to the days till the other countdowns are done, it was pointed out to me recently that I had a little over 100 days till this baby is due.

So stealing an idea from someone due just a few days before me, I put together countdown jars for my kids.

The deserve a daily reminder that mom being crazy truly won't last forever.
(and we'll just keep that little postpartum phase a secret as long as possible)

The double fun here is that I am due the day before school gets out, so it's also a countdown every day until summer vacation. Double yay!

Every kid got to pick a small candy, and every night they get one. Everyone was pleased with their choice until they saw how much the Whoppers filled up Dallin and Lincoln's little jars next to the sparse look of the M&Ms, Skittles and Sixlets, at which point they wanted to swap. Can't ever please everyone!

I'm not counting down yet, it already feels like this pregnancy is flying by way too quickly. This one has been an interesting experience after the last time around. I am so grateful that all is well with me and with baby (though the drs are still watching very closely, just to be sure that they aren't missing anything). It's unreal to think that it was at this point last time-26 weeks-that we discussed delivery and put a basic plan into place so that we were as prepared as possible should the need to deliver have presented itself at any moment. Goodness...what a very sobering thought. I'm completely fine with this one staying tucked in there for another 13 or 14 weeks. But let's be honest, I'd prefer it not be more than that!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Complete with deep thoughts, a fabulous quote, a bunch of pictures, and plenty of cheesiness. We're good at cheesy.

So this whole Valentine's Day thing....I find it interesting.

You get the people who are very adamant that it is a ruse. "Obligation Day", "Hallmark Day", all those other names they call it. "I love my husband/children/family/friends/dog/whateverfloatsyourboat on every day of the year, I don't have to wait till February 14th to express it!" they cry.

Good point. I very much agree. They should know every day of the year that you love them!

But to me just as I spend every day of the year thinking of, believing in and doing my best to follow Jesus Christ and then celebrate with even more focus at Christmas, I spend every day loving my family and friends and yet still enjoy spending a little extra focus on it on that holiday. Even if Hallmark created it. Which does them no good in my case because I don't drop money on cards anyway.

I like holidays.

I don't understand the haters. I do believe that everyone will have good Valentine's Days and not so good Valentine's Days, but I believe that your attitude plays into it more than your circumstances.

Of course this is coming from someone who was raised by a mother who was constantly optimistic. Goodness-our car broke down outside Jackson Hole WY one year as we were headed home (hours away), and she tried to spread enthusiasm about our "adventure" as I headed off to the highway with my father in hopes of someone taking pity on us so we could bum a ride back into town. Ah, life before cell phones.

Anyway.

I hope you chose to make your Valentine's Day fabulous no matter where you find yourself in life right now.

I have been extremely blessed, with an amazing husband who does show me just how much he loves me every day. Though I feel like I'm always grasping to keep up with his fabulousness, I hope I accomplish the same for him. I saw this quote again the other day and was reminded of not only how much I love it, but how true it is...

"I am satisfied that happiness in marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of one's companion. Any man who will make his wife's comfort his first concern will stay in love with her throughout their lives and through the eternity yet to come."

- Gordon B. Hinkley

(I'm pretty sure he'd be ok if you swapped out "man" with "woman" and

"wife" with "husband" and applied it in reverse)

And now, not to say "look how fabulous our Valentine's Day was!", but to share ideas because I find myself roaming blogs in the weeks before holidays gleaning ideas (though pinterest has significantly decreased that work!), I give you Vday, our way.

Ours was a little spread out this year. Since Aaron had Monday night off from clinicals this week (yay!!), he was able to come home before it was the middle of the night. Being the sweet guy he is, he brought me roses and dinner. Which was doubly great because whatever I made for dinner for the kids just didn't look the least bit good. We live in the middle of nowhere, so takeout always ends up lukewarm by the time it gets home, but I do have to say that it was without a doubt the very best 9pm lukewarm takeout date I've ever had in my entire life! I neglected to take a picture. dangit.

(also, I could live of Olive Garden's Lasagna Fritta.)

Today Aaron was off facing the world while I was home facing the herd.

We started the day off with pink waffles.

(i swear they were pink)

Complete with heart sprinkles of course.

I also would have totally gone the whipped cream and strawberries route, but I was almost out of cream. whoops.

After shuttling 5 kids off to school with valentines in tow and Charli off to preschool, Lincoln and I delivered his little valentines and started working on cinnamon rolls.

Which of course needed to fit the day.

We went with both the cream cheese frosting and the messy glaze.

I neglected to factor in that kids would be so full of junk from school that they wouldn't want an after school treat today, so we now have breakfast for tomorrow. Works for me!

With baking done and Charli home, we headed off to drop Aaron's Valentine goodies off at work.

There were some fabulous (and fabulously cheesy) ideas all over bloggyland, so I used some from others and some of my own to put together a treat basket. I was just going to drop it off at the front desk, but I realized that there was no way to carry the basket and wrangle three littles in the doors, especially with the awkwardness of a growing belly, so I made him come down and get it. What a nice wife I am! "Here honey! I'm being totally over the top so I can publicly embarrass you, so would you come and get it from the car? Thanks!"

In his little basket....

You can tell which ones I printed from other sources because they are all cute and fancy and fun, and mine are a little border with words pasted on. Yup, I'm all sorts of good with a computer.

One of my favorites was actually this:

A fancy little gift bag with the Skor on it. Apparently everyone in the office wanted to know what was in that one!

So what was in it? Well, being Valentine's Day and all.....

Oh come on! Publicly I'm very much a G rated person, PG at worst!

It did give the guys a good laugh.

I did not get a picture of the whole basket put together. I did remember to take my camera with me so that after getting the basket from the store and putting it all together I could take that picture. Somehow that counted in my brain.

For dinner with the kids we dressed up the table.

Everyone had their own special little treats too.
I totally slacked on the food though-usually I do something cute like heart-shaped pizza with heart-shaped pepperoni, or make everything pink and red, or something like that, but tonight they wanted tacos. So we just had tacos. But they were tacos made with extra love. Or something like that.

I was a nice mom and rented them a movie on a school night (*gasp*).

That won't happen again for a long time.

I am hoping they sleep well tonight as they crash from their sugar highs.

And now I wait for Aaron to come home.

A little more Valentine's Day left. The plan was rose petals and Hershey kisses from the front door to our bedroom (kissing the ground he walks on), but with older kids who have a habit of getting out of bed, that's kind of awkward. Gone are the toddler years when I could have used the explanation "Oh no! I spilled, now go back to bed so I can clean this up!". Dang. So instead, starting at the front door,

"10 things I love about you" for my love, floating through the house.

I could have easily found 100 things to do, but balloons get expensive and I am cheap. Not to mention that getting 100 balloons home would have been tricky, even in my giant van.

But how can you not love a guy who not only gets you the fabulous skirt you've been wanting (this one-and it's a thousand times more wonderful in person, I'm wearing it now), but does something truly wonderful for you as a Valentine's Day gift.

What exactly would that be?

Well, Aaron hates to run. I obviously enjoy it a little bit. One of my favorite runs to do is a local 5k that happens every year the first weekend in June. This year it falls 3 days after this baby is due. So the chances of me running it are pretty much zero. Even if I go overdue, I know he wouldn't be a fan of me running when way too pregnant, which I definitely would be if I went overdue. My three oldest kids ran this one last year with me and are looking forward to doing it again, as is child #4. So as part of my Valentine's gift this year, Aaron agreed to run this 5k since I won't be able to. (that was the rolled up paper with "you make my heart race" in those photos above) If you are not a runner, you may appreciate what a big deal that is. If you are a runner who is married to a non-runner, you really appreciate how much that gesture means!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Sherry Arnold is a woman I never met.
She is the cousin to a Beth, a woman I've never met.
On Saturday I joined thousands of people around the world and ran in her memory.

When news of her disappearance hit blogland about a month ago, it spread like wildfire among those who run. Obviously the hope was that she would be found alive and well after she disappeared just minutes into her Saturday run in her small town of Sidney Montana.
Unfortunately that wasn't to be the ending of her story.

I have been amazed many times of the past few years at watching not only friends who have never met in person, but also complete strangers band together in support of someone who is in need. I have seen it over and over through blogs of other runners via virtual races, fundraising efforts for big causes and no so big causes, and promotion of charity races. I've experienced it first hand with a local charity as I've had the opportunity to work with them on races that are planned for months, and those thrown together with only days or weeks notice when something tragic happens in our community. It's truly incredible.

Any excuse a runner has to get out and run is great. Running with a cause is greater.

There have been so many words tumbling around in my head as to my thoughts as I ran reflecting on Sherry, and on the amazing worldwide support of a cause in her honor. But no matter how many times I try and put them down here in black and white, it just isn't coming out the way I want it to. So instead of rambling about it, I'll leave you with words from a song that came up early on my playlist in this run. Though they were written with something else in mind, they seemed very fitting for this situation.

I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth, for all that is real
I run for your mother, your sister, your daughter, your wife
For you and me my friend
I run for life

(Melissa Ethridge, I Run for Life)

Five very cathartic miles in memory of someone who will never have that opportunity on this earth again.

Baby girl and I running for Sherry, joining in with those who ran this weekend, to celebrate that despite the fact that evil will always exist in this world, goodness, hope and love will always, always prevail.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

It's been a while since I obliged and played the tag game.
So I'm jumping back in.

I got double tagged on this one.
Once from a blogger who I recently happened upon when I caught her user name in a comment on a running blog that I read. 6Pack Mama most certainly meant she has a heard of children too, and she does! I love reading about other runner moms, and the big family part is a bonus connection.
The other tag comes from Mel, one of the sweetest cutest bloggers there is out there. Also a running mom, I've been inspired by Mel's awesome running and amazing attitude for a couple of years. And we wear the same size shoe. Which makes more sense for her since she's six feet tall. For me it just looks like I run on water skis because I'm so short.

This round is the tag of 11's.
The deal is that I have to
1. Post the rules
2. Share 11 random things about myself
3. Answer the 11 questions from the post in which I was tagged
4. Create 11 new questions for my tagees to answer
5. Tag 11 people-legitly

First up, 11 random things about me.
1. I like Zingers. But only the yellow ones.
2. I hate seafood.
3. I have ridges in my fingernails, but only on my left hand. Well, slight ridges on my right thumbnail too, but just barely. I have wondered why for years, no dr has been able to tell me. Turns out it's from psoriasis. Better than from arsenic poisoning which can also cause that.
4. My first choice of reading genres is juvenile fiction. I love books written for kids. So much more fun.
5. I have a killer unibrow. Like Frida had nothing on me. Not kidding.
6. I still haven't found my keys. They've been missing for almost two months now.
7. Blueberries taste funny when I'm pregnant. I don't love them plain ever, but when I'm pregnant they taste metallic. Can't eat blueberry muffins, they totally ruin a smoothie for me...but when not pregnant, no problem.
8. Speaking of pregnant, as of this week I've spent 337 weeks of my life pregnant. That's roughly 6 1/2yrs.
9. I can't handle the smell of cigarette smoke. I can smell it from miles away. Makes me so ill. Have you seen America's Sweethearts? We have this running joke in our house from one of the lines in it "Kiki? Kiki-kins? Who's smoking? I smell smoke. Is someone smoking within a six mile radius of where I'm standing?" At least over the years I've learned to control what used to be involuntary choking and hacking when I was around smoke. Go me!
10. My clothes in my closet hang by color. From black on one end to white on the other.
11. I have my first ultra planned. Though it won't happen till at least 2013, I know what I want to do!

Questions from 6packmama:1. If you could change your name to something different, even just for fun, what would it be?I honestly have NO idea! But when I was in Jr High and I would meet random people I sometimes told them than my name was Lemmegn. Pronounced "lemon", but it had to have a different spelling to make it believable. It worked.2. What is the 1 household chore you could go without ever doing again? Ironing. 3. Tell me about your first car. (This can be the first car you drove or owned)
I first drove a Chevy Astro van. My first car was a baby blue '89 Toyota Camry. It had electrical issues and battery connection issues and I learned all sorts of little tricks to make it start when it was being stubborn. It was great. The transmission blew when I was 8 months pregnant with #1. I was on the freeway, thankfully close enough to my parents house that I was able to will it to the immediate exit and coast downhill to their house. 4. Where did you grown up?
Though there are plenty of people who would argue whether or not I've actually grown up, I was born and raised in Salt Lake City. Actually a little tiny bit southeast of the actual city limits, right at the foothills of Millcreek Canyon. Loved it!5. Do/did you have a nickname? Tell me about it.
Catey is my nickname, my real name is Catherine. There have been a few other random ones through the years, the most notable being Spot. I've had ridiculous skin issues for way too long!6. How long have you been blogging? What made you start?
Five years and a tad. I think I just wanted a place to dump my thoughts. And to record the craziness of life and everything with the kids because I stink at keeping a journal. 7. If money were no object where would you go on vacation?
Somewhere tropical. First place that comes to mind is Tahiti. But as long as it was warm and there was a beach, I'm not picky!8. College....did you go? what did you study? anywhere you wanted to go, but didn't?
I attended LDS Business College, majoring in Interior Design. 9. tell me something shocking that most people don't about you.
I must just be a really boring person because I can't come up with anything! And neither can my husband. Hmmm...there may be something to share in a few weeks but it's not a for sure so I can't yet...10. exercise....love? hate? love to hate?
LOVE!! Love the feeling of a good hard workout. I don't always necessarily want to do it, but always love it by the time I'm done.11. You have 24 hours to literally run....walk....get as far as you can with only your two feet. How far would you get? Goodness...right now? Not all that far unfortunately. Probably not more than 30 or maybe 40 miles? I ran 10 comfortably last Saturday, so I know I could run at least that far, and a few more if I needed to or after a nice walk break I could get some good running in, but I think my body would eventually start screaming at me to remember that I'm pregnant and not getting any younger! 6 months ago....I felt like I could have run forever so it would have been a lot further than that!

Questions from Mel:

What is your favorite season for running and why? Depends on what day it is. I don't love the cold, so not winter (although an occasional snowy run is fun!), but there are things about each of the other seasons that make them my favorite. I love the smell of the air in Spring, the more moderate temperatures, and seeing the green peek up through the desert. I love crisp Summer mornings, warm summer evenings, and more than anything, the longer daylight hours that allow a little more room to squeeze a run in! I love the smell of the air in the Fall too, and though I love the heat of Summer, by the time Fall rolls around I love the relief of the cooler temps. And now that there are actually trees of decent size in my city, I love running through crunching leaves.

If you could meet any famous person, who would it be and why?

This one changes depending on what's going on in life at the time, so my answer is always different, but right now if I were to choose a dead famous person I would pick Emma Smith, and living famous person, ok people I would pick Dimity and SBS, the Run Like a Mother ladies. I adore them!

What is your mantra, favorite quote, and/or words you live by?

Oh goodness...I have so many favorites! Currently the most applicable though would be "Fake it till you make it" and "Charity never faileth". Although "Suck it up Buttercup" is a darn close runner up!

How did your parents come up with your name? No clue! I'll have to ask. But there are a number of ancestors with my same name in various places along the family line.

Do you collect anything? If so, what? Um...do children count?

How did you meet your significant other?

Long story very very short, we actually met each other at work. Though our paths had crossed many many times previously, including earlier in the day on the day we actually met. One day I'll tell that story.

If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? Like above, somewhere tropical! I am a sun baby and crave the beach!

What is your favorite fruit and vegetable? So hard to pick just one! Right now I would have to say strawberries or pineapple, and....goodness...broccoli? I love zucchini too, oh! and bell peppers. :)

What is your favorite color? White

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of me (Tall Mom)?

Aside from the cute (constant) smile and seriously encouraging and upbeat attitude, when I think of Mel I think of winning a contest on the TallMom blog a little less than two years ago when I was pregnant with Sam and in the thick of continual bad news and heavy diagnoses. The prize package she sent included a cute little book called The Meaning of Life-just one of those cute little Hallmark kind of books with happy thoughts and words of wisdom. A few of the lines were really what I needed to hear on the day that package arrived. It still sits on my nightstand. Between that and the sweet note that came with it, my day was completely brightened, my spirits lifted.

And now to commence the tagging! I'm snagging a few regulars, and branching out to a few we haven't heard from in a while.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Every parent goes through a phase when they are constantly being asked "why?".
You read about it in every parenting book.

But what those books never tell is that even though you will feel like you've been asked "why?" an infinite number of times during the toddler and preschool years, you will in fact ask that very same question many many more times yourself than your sweet little doe eyed child asks you. Although usually it isn't in the form of "why?", it often looks more like "WHY?!?!"

Sometimes there are a bunch of random symbols that should be inserted with that question so it actually looks more like "WHY, $@^#**^!$, WHY?!?"
Hopefully that particular version of why doesn't happen often to you.

I've found myself asking that question a few times lately. Just the "WHY?" though, no symbols involved.

For example, upon finding daughter #1's earrings and necklace in the entry table drawer that I use for coupon inserts:

And again when I realized that there was a ball of green clay in that same drawer. And a Sherlock Holmes book. Really?! I know I told a child to put that book away days ago. I guess I should be more specific than just saying "put this away". Technically this is away from where it was.

I asked it when I found a big glob of peanut butter stuck to the wall.

But I only asked that in my head because I really didn't want to know.

The real kicker this week came with me actually shouting "WHY?!" a handful of times. There may have been some funky symbols in my head when I was shouting that particular "why".

I was just minding my own business when I heard screaming coming from the hall bathroom. Like freak out panicky screaming.
This is not usually a good sign.
Upon arriving at the bathroom I found the door locked.
Also not usually a good sign.
I'm pounding on the door yelling "What is wrong?! Open the door!", while Lincoln is on the other side of the locked door and I hear "I'm gushing blood!!" mingled in with the screams and crying.

Awesome.

I realize that he's in enough of a fit that I'm going to need to open the door so I pick the lock.
I find him with a towel (a nice hangs in the bathroom and kids don't use it towel of course) up to his face. He pulls it away and I see that his face is covered in blood. As is his shirt. Oh and it's splattered down his pants too. And on the bathroom rug. And a little on the towel too.

I've been debating changing the rug and towels in the bathroom for the past two months. Guess that's been decided!

Still trying to get my child settled down enough to discover the root cause of the blood pouring from his face, I finally get him calm enough to tell me that he put "a green thing" in his nose and that it hurt so bad.
Huh?
A peek up his nose reveals a flash of bright green, and I finally get him to elaborate a tad, that it came off "the sticky ball". My head is swimming as I head off to grab a flashlight, my trusty tweezers, and-of course-the camera.

Thankfully this is the child that has great self control.
Yes, I realize the ridiculous irony in that statement at this moment.
But when I look him in the eye and tell him "I really need you to settle down NOW and hold VERY still", he complies.

I really don't know how he got it up there. It was hard to get out. And it was waaaaay up there. His poor body was sneezing frequently trying to help dislodge it, and thankfully between the sneezing and him holding still enough for me to get tweezers up to the very tip top of his nostril I was able to pull it out.

So what was it? About 30 seconds in I figured it out.
A ball surrounded with suction discs that came as part of a game where you throw it at hard surface catching discs and it sticks.

You'll notice it's missing a green disc now.

For size comparison, here is what I pulled out of his nose.

Nice.

I showed great restraint in not taking a photo of the object in his nose. He really was pretty bloody and it was slightly disturbing. Part of me is kicking myself for that because one day one of his kids is going to stick something up their nose. At that point I will wish I had a photo of him covered in blood laying on a bathroom floor that is also covered in blood so I could hand that photo to him and silently walk away.

When all was said and done, and cleaned up and calmed down, I finally got to sit with him and ask that great baffling question.
"Why? Why in the world did you put that up your nose?"
I received the classic answer.
"I don't know."

But the good news is that getting a dime sized suction disc out of a little nose is much easier than getting a styrofoam peanut out of a little nose. Those suckers just keep breaking off instead of sliding out. Although that situation was definitely much less bloody.
And it's still much less gross than when Dallin almost cut his nose off his face.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Pick an accessory you wouldn't often wear.
(Thank you SexyModest Boutique for the fun new scarf)

Add big fat celebrity sunglasses.

Bonus points if they came from an exotic locale and bring back fun memories.
Wait, Walgreens counts as exotic if it's in the Keys, right?

Soak up a little sun. Even if it is only through the car window.

Crank the music as loud as you want. Even if you are driving a huge van.
Sing along at the top of your lungs.

Spend a long car ride with your best friend.
Air all of your frustrations to that best friend who just lets you talk.
It's incredibly helpful if they also happen to be thoughtful and patient and help you resolve some of those frustrations and situations that you just don't quite know how to handle.

Walk directly into a tree because you aren't paying attention.
But only if you are willing to laugh at yourself.

Stop by and view the newest part of the old inside joke.

Laugh like immature children. Laugh harder at the fact that you find it so funny.
Send a picture of said incident to another best friend. Spend a little time chatting with her so she too can laugh with you.

Say yes to your kids when they call you to ask if they can bake a cake while you're gone.

Spend the rest of the evening after you get home just basking in the remembrance of how good life can be when you are willing to get over yourself and appreciate the little things.